One of the domestic spirits which is half brownie, half ghost. It was supposed to be the spirit of a Northumbrian stable boy killed by one of the past Lords of Hilton in a fit of passion. He was heard working about the kitchen at nights, but he was a perverse spirit, for like puddlefoot or the silky of Haddon Hall, he would toss about and disarrange whatever had been left tidy, but clean and tidy whatever had been left dirty or in disorder. He used to be heard singing sadly at night:

Wae’s me, wae’s me;

The acorn’s not yet

Fallen from the tree,

That’s to grow the wood,

That’s to make the cradle,

That’s to rock the bairn,

That’s to grow to a man,

That’s to lay me.

He was unnecessarily pessimistic, however, for the servants put their heads together and laid out a green cloak and hood for him. At midnight he put them on, and frisked about till cock-crow, singing,

Here’s a cloak and here’s a hood,

The Cauld Lad of Hilton will do nae mair good!

And with the dawn he vanished for ever.

[Motifs: F346; F381.3; F405.11]